Unveiled views
In Unveiled Views, five remarkable women talk about the lives and rights of women in islamic countries. Director Alba Sotorra Clua’s film begins with Alba, a Bosnian woman who tracks down land mines for a living. Then Sotorra Clua introduces us to Iranian director Rakhshan Bani Etemad, the Turkish human rights activist Eren Keskin, the Afghan poet Moshgan Saadat and finally the Pakistani dancer Nahid Siddique. Each of these women has been confronted with difficult challenges, but have all found an escape from male-dominated society through different forms of art.
Social background
Though the status of women differs from one Islamic society to the next, each of the women in the film is confronted with oppressive restrictions. Afghan women were not allowed to leave the house during Taliban rule, and female Turkish activists lives are threatened even in contemporary Turkey. When director Sotorra Clua filmed a group of Iranian girls giggling and having fun, the girls were subsequently arrested and jailed for six hours. The documentary demonstrates that while some progress has been made in the area of women’s rights, there is still much work to be done.
About the filmmaker
Alba Sotorra Clua is a Spanish filmmaker. She studied film, video production and audiovisual communication. She has travelled to Asia, Africa and South America for her projects. Unveiled Views won the prize for best documentary at the REC Film Festival in Barcelona in 2008.
Scenes
Introduction
In this first scene the subjects of Alba Sotorra Clua’s documentary introduce themselves. The five women briefly comment on their jobs, passions and the things that give meaning to their lives.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Alma Suljevic
After the war in Sarajevo, Alma Suljevic started pinpointing and clearing minefields. In this scene she explains what it feels like to enter minefields and risk her life. Alma also talks about the way in which this ‘artistic job’ inspired her to become an artist.
Iran: Rakhshan Bani Etemad
Iranian director and movie maker Rakhshan Bani Etemad talks about the restricted laws in her country and how they have created a reactive youth. In addition she elaborates on the revolution, the changes afterwards and her movies. This scene also contains images in which director Alba Sotorra Clua is interrupted by the police while filming a group of young Iranian girls.
Turkey: Eren Keshin
Turkish human rights activist Eren Keshin elaborates on the political structure in Turkey and the position of women in this male dominated country. She encourages women to seek their own solutions.
Death by your side
Since 1991 Turkish human rights activist Eren Keshin is being threatened by several people who also work in human rights. Despite these threats, Eren never regrets her choices in her line of work.
Afghanistan: Moshagan Saadat
Poet Moshagan Saadat and her sisters (documentary and movie makers) talk about the period in which the Taliban ruled Afghanistan and the situation nowadays. It becomes very clear that Afghan girls women still have very few opportunities to make use of their talents.
Pakistan: Nahid Siddique
We meet Nahid Siddique, a well-know dancer from Pakistan. Although Nahid always considered dancing as a natural compulsion, others considered it as something close to prostitution.
Prohibiting art
When a new government came in power, all forms of dance were prohibited in Pakistan since it didn’t fit in the government’s view on the ‘true islam’. Dancer Nahid Siddique had to leave her country to continue to dance.